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Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Afghan Taliban, has been freed from jail in Pakistan, officials say.
There is no official confirmation of the move which comes after requests by the Afghan government which hopes it will boost the Afghan peace process.
Mullah Baradar is one of the four men who founded the Taliban movement in Afghanistan in 1994.
He became a linchpin of the insurgency after the Taliban were toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001.
He was captured in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.
News of Mullah Baradar's release came from officials of the interior ministry. However, Pakistan's foreign ministry has denied the reports.
And the Taliban's spokesman in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, said they could not yet confirm the release.
"We have not received any official confirmation about his release," Mr Mujahid told AFP in Kabul.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of David Loyn David Loyn BBC News, Kabul
More than 30 Taliban members have been released from Pakistani jails in recent months, but Mullah Baradar is the one that the Afghan government has been waiting for.
A political adviser to the Kabul government team which addresses the issue of Taliban peace negotiations, Ismail Qasim Yar, said the government is ready to negotiate, but there is little room for manoeuvre. He made it clear that there can be no change to the constitution, one of the demands of the Taliban.
But he said that since Mullah Baradar was "inclined towards a political solution," then his release might make a solution possible.
Destination unknown
It was not clear where Mr Baradar will travel to after his reported release. He may go to a third country, possibly the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Baradar held several senior positions in the Taliban government before its fall in 2001. He then fled to Pakistan and for some years was the Taliban's military commander as they regrouped to fight a guerrilla war.
Mullah Baradar was reportedly arrested in a secret raid by CIA and Pakistani agents.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says releasing one of the founders of the Taliban and a mastermind of the Afghan insurgency would seem a counter-productive step for the Kabul government and the US-led coalition.
But Mullah Baradar has been seen as one of the few senior Taliban figures who has shown a willingness to negotiate, our correspondent says.
Afghan diplomats had suggested Pakistan was trying to hinder the reconciliation process by backing more hardline elements within the Taliban.
BBC News - Pakistan 'frees top Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar'
There is no official confirmation of the move which comes after requests by the Afghan government which hopes it will boost the Afghan peace process.
Mullah Baradar is one of the four men who founded the Taliban movement in Afghanistan in 1994.
He became a linchpin of the insurgency after the Taliban were toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001.
He was captured in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.
News of Mullah Baradar's release came from officials of the interior ministry. However, Pakistan's foreign ministry has denied the reports.
And the Taliban's spokesman in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, said they could not yet confirm the release.
"We have not received any official confirmation about his release," Mr Mujahid told AFP in Kabul.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of David Loyn David Loyn BBC News, Kabul
More than 30 Taliban members have been released from Pakistani jails in recent months, but Mullah Baradar is the one that the Afghan government has been waiting for.
A political adviser to the Kabul government team which addresses the issue of Taliban peace negotiations, Ismail Qasim Yar, said the government is ready to negotiate, but there is little room for manoeuvre. He made it clear that there can be no change to the constitution, one of the demands of the Taliban.
But he said that since Mullah Baradar was "inclined towards a political solution," then his release might make a solution possible.
Destination unknown
It was not clear where Mr Baradar will travel to after his reported release. He may go to a third country, possibly the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Baradar held several senior positions in the Taliban government before its fall in 2001. He then fled to Pakistan and for some years was the Taliban's military commander as they regrouped to fight a guerrilla war.
Mullah Baradar was reportedly arrested in a secret raid by CIA and Pakistani agents.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says releasing one of the founders of the Taliban and a mastermind of the Afghan insurgency would seem a counter-productive step for the Kabul government and the US-led coalition.
But Mullah Baradar has been seen as one of the few senior Taliban figures who has shown a willingness to negotiate, our correspondent says.
Afghan diplomats had suggested Pakistan was trying to hinder the reconciliation process by backing more hardline elements within the Taliban.
BBC News - Pakistan 'frees top Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar'
